This invention relates to golf accessories and equipment, particularly such equipment and accessories related to the support and protection of a golf bag and clubs and especially to such equipment and accessories designed to protect and support a golf bag and clubs while they are being transported in the trunk or other cargo space in a motor vehicle.
The typical golfer lives at a location remote from the location of the golf course and transports his clubs in a golf bag which is placed in the trunk or other cargo space in a motor vehicle which he or she drives to the golf course. The vehicle is often shared with one or more other golfers who also share the space in which the clubs are placed. Because of the nature of the clubs, with a concentration of weight in the club head, the clubs tend to slide out of the bag and the club heads bump and scrape against each other, tending to mar and damage the club heads. This effect is amplified when two or more bags and sets of clubs are carried next to each other. In addition, once the clubs are partly ejected from the bag the movement of the vehicle as it is being driven around curves, up and down hills and accelerated and decelerated tends to jostle the clubs and further cause impact of the clubs against each other and against the walls and floor of the cargo space, additionally exposing them to potential damage.
In recent years the cost of golf equipment, especially clubs, has increased considerably. The owners of these expensive clubs are often zealous in their efforts to protect their clubs from any kind of damage and to maintain their appearance. However, the desire to protect golf clubs is not limited to owners of expensive clubs. It is important to any golfer to maintain the appearance and condition of his or her golf clubs and avoid unnecessary damage to them or deterioration of their appearance. While some attempts have been made to prevent or reduce the movement and displacement of golf clubs while being transported in a vehicle to help reduce the possibility of damage to the clubs, none of these attempts have succeeded in avoiding the undesirable results and in many cases the apparatus made available is heavy, cumbersome, expensive and often ineffective.
There is still a need for a means of protecting golf clubs from the type of damage and deterioration described above and which is available to and practical for all golfers whether or not their clubs are of the type considered expensive. The present invention is believed to provide such a protective means.
According to the present invention there is provided a golf bag stand which helps to support a golf bag and the golf clubs in it in a manner to substantially reduce or even eliminate the likelihood of damage or deterioration of the appearance of the clubs by virtue of their coming out of the bag and being bumped and scraped or scratched by contact with each other or with the walls or other structures of the trunk or other cargo space of a motor vehicle in which they are being carried.
The stand comprises two generally vertical support panels joined together at their top ends which have arcuate cutouts to engage one end of a golf bag in a cradling fashion and keep it suspended above the surface on which it is placed.
In a preferred form the stand is molded in one piece or may be stamped from a single piece of sheet material. It provides a support which cradles the open end of the bag and steadies it and the clubs which are placed in it from rolling and pitching motion which might cause the clubs to fully or partly come out of the golf bag and to bump and/or slide against each other causing defacement or damage to the clubs. The support is feet at the four corners of the stand and which corners may lie substantially outward from the lateral dimensions of the bag while the upper portion has arcuate portions which conform generally to the approximate diameter of typical golf bags. A substantial range of golf bag sizes can be accommodated with one dimension of arc of the support. Extreme deviations of size can be accommodated by providing several sizes of stands with support portions which have larger or smaller arcs to hold larger or smaller bags.
In this invention the open end of the golf bag and the heads of the clubs in it are maintained in an elevated position which tends to cause the clubs to slide into the bag rather than out of it and helps reduce contact between adjacent club heads. With the relatively wide stance of the feet of the stand and the relatively low center of gravity of the stand and clubs, there is also little tendency of the stand to fall over on its side or to spill the clubs out of the bag.
The stand holds the top of the bag in an elevated position when the bag and stand are placed on a more or less level floor or base structure, such as when placed in the trunk of a car. When the clubs remain in their separated condition, substantially as is dictated by the tubes and/or partitions commonly provided in the bag, the probability of the club heads bumping and scraping each other is virtually eliminated. The stand is provided with feet which have a fairly wide stance relative to the diameter of the golf bag. This reduces the possibility of the bag and clubs from rolling or falling over and further maintains them in a steady, separated condition. To use the stand, the golf bag is placed in the arcuate cradle in the top of the stand with the bottom rear or heel of the bag resting on the floor of the vehicle.
To even further support and maintain the bag and clubs in a safe, steady position, the stands may be provided with means to secure the golf bag to the stand. For example, the stands may be provided with straps which encircle the collar commonly provided around the open end of the bag and can be tied to each other by suitable means such as hook and loop fasteners, snaps or other devices to keep the top of the golf bag in contact with the stand.
If desired the golf bag can be protected from possible injury by the edge of the material from which the stand is constructed by providing a protective bead or welt around the cradle portion of the stand which contacts the bag. This is particularly appropriate when the stand is made of sheet metal. The bead may be made of any suitable material such as rubber, fabric, plastic or rubber foam or plastic foam and may be attached by any available and appropriate means such as ceenting, sewing or simply by providing a slot in the protective bead and slipping it over the edge of the material of the stand.
It is also desirable to construct the stands so that both of the arcuate edges contact the collar and/or bag when a bag is placed on the stand as described above. This would tend to reduce the unit pressure applied to the bag and the possibility of damage while at the same time improving the operation of the stand to support and maintain the golf bag and clubs in a desired position. In this form of the stand, the arcuate upper support edges of the stand are at relatively different elevations from the floor of the trunk or other enclosure such that when the heel of the bag is placed on the floor of the trunk both of the arcuate edges of the stand are in contact with a side of the bag or collar or one edge could contact a side of the bag and the other edge could contact the collar.
Various readily available and well known means may be used to construct the stand and it may be made from a wide variety of available materials. For example, the stand may be cut or sculpted from wood, die cut, stamped or cast from various metals or sheet materials or molded or formed from plastic. If stamped from sheet metal, or otherwise produced from sheet material, the parts can be laid out to take advantage of their complementary shapes and virtually eliminate scrap and waste material.
While the invention has been described primarily in connection with its application and use with the support and transportation of golf clubs and golf bags, it is not restricted to such use and could find utility in carrying other objects such as tools, furniture or similar or different items.
It is an object of this invention to provide a practical, inexpensive stand for a golf bag and clubs so that they may be transported in a vehicle in a safe, stable manner.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a stand which can be made in one operation from a unitary piece of material.
Still another object of this invention is to provide such a stand which can be molded in one piece.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide such a stand which can be manufactured easily and economically from readily available material.
It is also an object of this invention to provide a stand for stabilizing a golf bag and golf clubs which is durable and effective and at the same time aesthetically appealing.
A further object of this invention is to provide such a stand which can be easily cleaned and maintained in a useful condition.
Another object of this invention is to provide a stand for a golf bag which is lightweight, strong and durable and requires no assembly.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent to those persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description particularly when such description is read in conjunction with the attached drawings and the appended claims.